Door structure for pigeon traps



July 15, 1958 L. J. NEID DOOR STRUCTURE FOR PIGEON TRAPS Original FiledOct. 24, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 a vwowfom ATTOR N EYS July 15, 1958 L. J.NEID DOOR STRUCTURE FOR PIGEON TRAPS Original Filed Oct. 24, 1949 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Qwuvwtm laws J A E/Q ATTO R N EYS 2,842,891 DOORSTRUCTURE FOR PIGEON TRAPS Louis J. Neid, St. Paul, Minn.

4 Claims. (Cl. 43-66) The present invention relates to pigeon traps andmore particularly to a special type of door structure for use inconnection therewith to trap scrub pigeons in live condition. The doorstructure herein described and claimed is a division of my earlier filedcopending application entitled Pigeon Traps and assigned the Serial No.123,265 on October 24, 1949, and which is now U. S. Patent No.2,693,050.

As is commonly known, scrub pigeons constitute a severe nuisance,especially in urban areas, and their droppings cause considerabletrouble both from the stand-- point of sanitation and defacing ofbuildings and the like. Because the birds confine their activities andflight within and close to urban areas, it becomes impossible to disposeof them by means such as shooting and poisoning. Most urban areas haveordnances and laws prohibiting the use of inhumane devices for killingbirds or animals and furthermore would not permit the use of dangerousweapons or chemicals which might endanger the lives of human beings inthe area.

This invention contemplates a particular trap which can easily andsuccessfully entice and entrap pigeons in a thorough and humane mannerso that the birds may be periodically removed in live condition forproper and humane destruction. One of the greatest difficulties intrapping pigeons arises from the natural fears and suspicions of thebird which makes the pigeon wary but still does not drive him from hishaunts. l have found that it is essential to instill a certain degree ofconfidence in the pigeons by providing first of all a trap which permitslight and air to enter freely into all portions of the trap, andsecondly to provide an imperfect collecting chamber which will tend tocollect and congregate the birds by Virtue of bait placed therein butwill not frighten or dis-- turb them because they can observe otherbirds or experience themselves the possibility of getting out of thefirst compartment without any degree of effort exerted by the bird. Theimperfect trapping of the birds does, however, tend to crowd andtemporarily maintain them in a rather closely-confined condition so thatthere is a tendency for the birds to seek egress in other portions ofthe compartment, especially after'having fed upon the bait. The doorstructure which invites the birds to enter the second compartmentwithout in any way frightening them or causing them to panic and yetwhich will provide a perfect barrier to prevent their escape from innercompartment, constitutes the important subject matter of this invention.

It is therefore a general object of the invention to provide a doorstructure which will invite a pigeon to enter therethrough and will beoperable to permit the entrance 6 of the pigeon without frightening thebird and yet which will close behind the bird after its entry andpositively discourage and prevent the exit of the bird by the somemeans.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a door whichwill permit a sutficient portion of the body of a pigeon to passtherethrough before-operatively swing;

ice

ing to open position so that the him will. have complete confidence incontinuing through the doorway, the bird ultimately being completelytrapped after having passed therethrough.

Still more specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide adoor structure in a double compartmented trap in which a medial area ofthe doorway permits the entrance of the head and neck of a bird beforethe door is operatively swung by the wings and shoulders of the bird topermit the bird to completely pass through the doorway, the same medialopen area having means to discourage and prevent the bird from passing,outwardly through the door or even attempting to return through the samepassageway as it entered.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fullyappear from the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to thesame or similar parts throughout the views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an improved pigeon trap constructedinaccordauce with the present invention and with the cover partlyremoved;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the entrance gate;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of the mounting for one ofthe swinging gate members;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view of the partition be tween the forwardand rear compartments;

Fig. 5, isa vertical sectional .view taken on the line of Fig. 4 andlooking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the 6-6 of Fig. 4 andlooking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring more particularly. to the drawings, in indicates .a floor ofthe improved trap and 11 and represent lower and upper longitudinallyextending side rails which may be of metal, for example, some. alloy ofalts: numv Slats or palings 13 are attached by welding or like to theinner faces of the rails :11 and '12 in spaced apart relation, thespaces between the slats being of such a width as to prevent a pigeonescaping therethrough. Lower and upper side rails 14 and 15 are similarto and are disposed in parallel spaced apart relation to the side rails11 and 12. Slats or palings 16 are secured as by welding to the innerfaces of the rails 14 and 15 in the same spaced apart relation as theslats 13. -The floor it? is secured, as by welding, to the lower siderails '11 and 14..

The lower rails 11 and 14 are connected at their rear ends by a lowervrear end rail 17 and the upper side rails 12 and 15 are connected by anupper rear end rail 18. Slats 19 have their lower end portions securedto the outer face of the rail 17 and their upper ends secured to theupper rear end rail 18, as by welding or the like.

The forward end of the trap is open and the foremost side slats of theslats 13 and 16 have secured thereto.

jambs 20 and 21,,respectively, which are shorter than the slats 13 and16 so that the upperand lower ends of the jambs 20 and 21 terminateshort of the respective ends of the slats. A top rail 22 is secured tothe inner faces of the foremost slats 13 and 16 and rests upon the upperends of the jambs 20 and 21. A front piece or bracing member 23 extendsbetween the jambs 20 and 21 and has its opposite ends secured to theinner faces of the jambs. A pivot rod 24 extends between the jambs 2i)and 21 and is mountedon the upper end portions thereof.

A plurality of saddles are pivotally mounted on the rod 24 and, eachsaddle is of substantially U-shape having a horizontally disposed body,portion 25 and a pair of upstanding apertured spaced apart legs 26 and27 which receive therethrough the rod 24. The body portion 25 pf eachsaddle has a centrally disposed opening for the saddles is'such that thebars 28 depending 'therefrom' are so spaced apart that a pigeon cannotpass from the inside of the trap between two adjacent bars to theoutside while the bars are in normal depending position.

The sill 30 is disposed in vertical alignment with the pivot rod 24 andthe saddles and has in its rear edge portion a series of spaced apartnotches 31 which correspond in number and are in alignment with the bars28. The bars 28 are of sufficient length so that their lower endportions are received by the respective notches 31 of the sill 30 whenthe bars are in their normal closed position as shown in full lines inFig. 2 of the drawing.

The trap is divided into a forward entrance or bait holding compartmentor chamber generally indicated at A and a rear compartment or chambergenerally indicated at B by a partition generally indicated at C. Thepartition C has a sill 32, the opposite ends of which are secured to theinner faces of the lower end portions of intermediate slats 13a and 16a,respectively. The partition includes a top rail 33 which is disposed invertically spaced apart relation to the sill 32 and has its oppositeends secured to the inner faces of the upper end portions of the slats13a and 16a, respectively. A front piece 34 is disposed beneath the toprail 33 and has its opposite ends secured to the inner faces of theupper end portions of the slats 13a and 16a, respectively.

A series of slats 35 have their lower and upper end portions secured tothe sill 32 and the top rail 33, respectively, and are spaced apart sothat a pigeon cannot pass between two adjacent slats. At one end of thepartition C a doorway is provided which is normally masked by a doorgenerally indicated at D. The slat 16a constitutes one of the jambs ofthis doorway and the other jamb which is indicated at 36 is secured tothe sill 32 and to the top rail 33 and the front piece 34. The doorcomprises parallel spaced apart rods 37, 38, 39 and which are connectedat their upper ends by a pivot pin 41. Rods 37 and 38 are connected attheir lower ends by stop bar 42 and rods 39 and 40 are connected attheir lower ends by stop bar 42a.

A series of vertically spaced apart braces 43 are connected to the rods37, 38, 39 and 40 at points disposed above their medial lines.

A plurality of vertically spaced apart guards 44 have their outer endssecured to the rod 37 and their opposite free end portions are bent asat 45 and extend rearwardly and preferably somewhat outwardly from thispoint 45 to terminate in points 46; In any event, the points 46 shouldnot prematurely prick or prod the bird in its passageway through thegate. The guards 44 have their bent portions 45 secured to the rod 38.Guards 47, similar in construction and arrangement to the guards 45,have their outer ends secured to the rod 40 and their opposite free endportions bent as at 48 and extend rearwardly and outwardly from thispoint 48 and terminate in points 49. The guards 47- have their bentportions 48 secured to the rod 39.

The gate D is pivotally mounted on the rear upper portions of the jambs16a and 36 by staples 50, which engage the pivot pin 41 at its oppositeend portions. The stop bars 42 and 42a engage the rear'face of the sill32 to check the forward swinging of the gate. It will be noted that thegate D is constructed in a general open-mesh structure so that a pigeoncan readily see through all portions thereof. Furthermore, an opening 53is defined medially of the door structure which will permit entrance ofthe head and neck of a pigeon as will be more fully describedhereinafter, the opening 53 extending completely through the bottom soas to present no obstruction to any portion of the bird as the gaterelatively rises with respect to the pigeons head and neck. Although itis the natural habit of pigeons to avoid stooping and crawling, I havefound that they will enter an opening 53 which is vertically elongatedas shown in Figs. 1 and 4 so that the height thereof is in the order ofat least twice the width.

A cover 51 is disposed upon the trap and rests upon the upper rear endrail 18, the top rails 22 and 33. The cover 51 can be secured to theserails in any suitable manner. [a lid 52 is mounted on the cover 51 andaffords access to the interior of the trap. I sometimes prefer toconstruct the cover 51 of open-mesh material which will further increasethe availability of light and air to the interior of the trap. In suchevent the lid 52 is mounted in the same manner so as to permit access tothe interior the bars 28 which will be freely swung inwardly on thepivot rod 24, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawer, untilthe pigeon is entirely within the compartment A. As soon as the bar orbars 28 are relieved of the force exerted by the pigeon, they willreturn to their original vertical closed position with their lowerendportions received by the notches 31 of the sill 30."

The inner walls of the notches will'check further forward swingingmovement of the bars 28 to prevent the trapped pigeon from escaping bypushing the bars outwardly of the trap. The side walls of the notcheswill stop lateral movement of the bars 28 and thus preclude thepossibility of the entrapped bird from pushing between two adjacent barsto escape. are individually mounted for independent swinging movementand only one or two of them need to be displaced by an entering pigeon,an entrapped bird cannot escape therefrom by himself. It is to beunderstood, however, that where a number of pigeons are simultaneouslymilling about within and without compartment A two or more of theindividual bars 28 may be simultaneously displaced allowing some of thepigeons to pass in and out. Since those pigeons passing out establishconfidence in the entire group, they will re-enter and serve as decoysfor other pigeons.

During its movements within the forward compartment A, the entrappedpigeon will locate the door D and urged by its natural curiosity it willthrust its head and neck through the opening 53 of the door. Partialentrance will establish suflicient confidence in the bird to encouragehim toward further effort. the bird will then engage the guards 44 and47 and further movement of the bird towards the door will cause the doorto swing into the compartment B on the staples 50 to the dotted lineposition shown in Fig. 5, 'until the pigeon is entirely within thechamber B. As soon as the bird moves out of engagement with the door, itwill return automatically to its original vertical closed position. Atthis time, the stop bars 42 and 42a engage the rear face of the sill 32to arrest the forward movement pigeon cannot enter therebetween and thedistance be tween the guards 44 and 47 decreases in a forward directionto further preclude the possibility of the pigeons moving from thecompartment B to the compartment A.

Since the bars 28 The body of One of the advantages of having twoseparate compartments with a door permitting a bird to leave the baitcontaining chamber but not being able to return thereto is that afterentering the bait chamber and eat ing some of the bait, the entrappedbird will then leave the bait chamber and thus the bait will beconserved. Another advantage inherent in this structure is that thepreviously entrapped birds will not remain in the bait compartment totrample and scatter the bait and to soil it with dung and the like, butnew birds will be continuously entering, being decoyed by thosepresently in compartment A.

When the trap has become filled with pigeons, the trap can be emptied insitu or carried away to a suitable place for emptying. The birds may beremoved from the trap by opening the lid 52 and withdrawing the pigeonsthrough the opening in the cover 51. The cover 51 may be removablyfitted to the trap to permit of access to both chambers A and B forcleaning and for rebaiting.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and portions of the various parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. A gate construction for suspension in a door open ing of a pigeontrap for limiting passage to one direction only, said gate comprising aplurality of rod members extending in the vertical dimension of the gateand spaced apart transversely thereof, a plurality of vertically spacedrod members extending transversely of the full width of the gate throughapproximately the top half thereof and joined to the vertical members,other vertically spaced rod members extending in a transverse directionacross the vertical members from the outermost vertical members to andeach terminating at an inner one of the vertical members, the said innerones of the vertical members being adjacent to one another and thetermination of said other transverse rod members thereat providing avertically elongated opening therebetween through the gate, and meansmounted peripherally of said opening presenting smooth surfaces for theentrance of a pigeon and presenting pointed elements at the other sidefor preventing the return of the pigeon.

2. A gate construction for suspension in a door opening of a pigeon trapfor limiting passage to one direction only, said gate comprising aplurality of rod members extending in the vertical dimension of the gateand spaced apart transversely thereof, a plurality of vertically spacedrod members extending transversely of the full width of the gate throughapproximately the top half thereof and joined to the vertical members,other vertically spaced rod members extending in transverse directionacross the vertical members from the outermost vertical members to andeach terminating at an inner one of the vertical members, the said innerones of the vertical members being adjacent to one another and thetermination of said other transverse rod members thereat providing avertically elongated opening therebetween through the gate, and pointedelements carried by the said inner ones of the vertical members alongthe sides of said opening and all directed away from one side of thegate.

3. A gate construction for suspension in a door opening of a pigeon trapfor limiting passage to one direction only, said gate comprising aplurality of rod members extending in the vertical dimension of the gateand spaced apart transversely thereof, a plurality of vertically spacedrod members extending transversely of the full Width of the gate throughapproximately the top half thereof and joined to the vertical members,other vertically spaced rod members extending in a transverse directionacross the vertical members from the outermost vertical members to andeach terminating at an inner one of the vertical members, the said innerones of the vertical members being adjacent to one another and thetermination of said other transverse rod members thereat providing avertically elongated opening therebetween through the gate, and pointedelements carried by the said inner ones of the vertical members alongthe sides of said opening and all directed away from one side of thegate, said pointed elements on the two sides of the opening being indivergent relation.

4. The invention according to claim 3 wherein said pointed elementsconstitute continuations of the said other vertically spaced rod membersextending around the adjacent inner ones of the vertical members.

References Sited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS147,091 Beach et al. Feb. 3, 1874 383,700 Brusie May 29, 1888 590,032Anderson Sept. 14, 1897 1,183,878 Horovicz May 23, 1916 1,857,341 AbbinkMay 10, 1932 2,105,879 De Hart Jan. 18, 1938 2,488,466 Carver Nov. 15,1949 2,518,614 Hain Aug. 15, 1950 2,562,663 Golaszewski July 31, 1951

